Aniela Pająkówna – malarka z Medyki (w 150. rocznicę urodzin)
Aniela Pająkówna – the Painter from Medyka (on the 150th birth anniversary)

Summary/Abstract: This year is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Aniela Pająkówna (1864–1912), the daughter of a coachman in the estate of the Pawlikowski family in Medyka, and a forgotten artist. Thanks to her talent as well as to the care of Helena and Mieczysław Pawlikowscy, she managed to ascend the social ladder and earned herself a permanent record in the history of Polish art, and thanks to her relationship with Stanisław Przybyszewski, also in the history of Polish literature. Paradoxically, the figure of Pająkówna is more known in other places than in her home village Medyka, where until recently hardly anyone had ever heard of her. The author of this article gives a broad outline of the artist's life and work on the basis of her exchange of letters with Helena Pawlikowska née Dzieduszycka and Stanisław Przybyszewski. The article has two main themes. The first of these is the patronage of the Pawlikowski family, which allowed Pająkówna to get educated as a painter, established her position in the Polish artistic environment at the turn of the nineteenth century, as well as ensured her equitable living conditions. The second one is Pająkówna’s relationship with the decadent writer Przybyszewski. The fragments of their letters quoted in this article show Pająkówna as a modest, sensitive, and at the same time naïve and ingenuous person. Przybyszewski made the most of these features of her character by stirring the painter’s feelings towards himself in order to extract money from her. The author has intentionally left out the artistic biography of Pajakówna and discussed only those of her works which are directly connected with her patrons, i.e. the Pawlikowski family, her own family and friends, and her home village Medyka.

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